Born on February 13, 1964 in
Marietta, GA, and raised in a motorcycle and rodder family,
Hank’s first motorcycle -- at the age of 5 -- was
a Honda 50. Like many other Georgia boys at the time,
he thrilled himself riding dirt bike trails and racing
go karts, but he had other things on his mind, as well.
Hank taught himself how to weld
at his father's shop (while no one was looking) at the
age of 8. By age 10, he had surpassed his dad's torch-wielding
skills and had become singularly obsessed with the workings
of metal.
His first car, at age 16, was
a '34 Ford, 5-window coupe that he and his dad rescued
from oblivion. From 1980 to 1991, Hank has owned a number
of hot rods, old and new, including: a few
Chevy II’s, a 1200hp ‘69 Camaro (complete
with parachute and wheelie bars), a ‘74 Porsche
911, not to mention various '30s and '40s street
rods that he has custom-built along the way.
Officially, Hank Young is a
3rd generation machinist & fabricator. Unofficially,
he is the third installment in a rich creative legacy
established by his grandfather and father before him.
Hank’s grandfather, Joe
Young, was a restless and prolific hobbyist, who conquered
his boredom by tackling increasingly detailed and demanding
projects in his spare time. "You name it…he's
done it." chuckles Hank. He's designed and built
hydroplane racing boats, violins & musical instruments,
his own personal water-well drilling rig, and numerous
grandfather clocks. In addition, he was also an avid
photographer. All this while holding an executive position
at Lockheed-Martin, one of Marietta's, and Atlanta's,
largest employers.
His father, Lewis Young, also
worked for Lockheed for 11 years as a computer programmer
/ machinist. His specialty was mastering the design and
fabrication of special parts and components on state-of-the-art
CNC machines, some of the first and only ones of their
kind in the country, at the time. In his off-hours he
designed and built hot rods and was an accomplished drag
racer. He eventually left Lockheed and instead become
a fireman for the city of Marietta, and Cobb County,
Georgia.
Unlike his father and grandfather,
Hank decided against working for the legacy aerospace
contractor. Instead, he chose to pursue his passion for
hot rods and motorcycles and went to work for Joe Smith's
Antique Ford and Street Rod Parts in 1984. It wasn't
long before Hank became well known to hot rodders across
the country as one of the premier builders and providers
of '32 to '48 Ford street rods, parts, and accessories.
In 1991, Hank built his first
motorcycle, a ‘40 Indian Chief Bobber, complete
with early-sixties, Schunk cams inside a custom-stroked,
96 cubic inch v-twin. That, in turn, led him to design
and build a custom Knucklehead for his son, Taylor, and
a custom Shovelhead for his dad.
Lucky for us, though, he likes
the 'two-wheeled' rods he is creating as much as the
'fours' that have been his trademark for some time. The
turning point came with the building of The Flying Pan,
a bike which was widely praised in the worldwide
motorcycling press. In 2002,
he made
his "hobby" official
and incorporated as Young Choppers & Hot Rods. Now
Hank specializes in bringing together the vital spirits
of our motorcycling and hot rodding heritage with the
technical innovations of its present to create timeless
expressions of automotive vision to inspire and thrill
us for generations to come.
-- TY
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-> hank@youngchoppers dot com